What is the Standard Door Size for Residential Homes?

What are Standard Size Doors for Residential Homes?

When buying a door, you should consider many factors. What style of door you want? Do you want just a slab or a pre-hung door? Do you want an out swing or an in swing? Once you have that information you will need to start measuring. Measuring a door and its frame can be difficult if you don’t know what you are doing. Here are a few good measurement practices and basic facts surrounding standard door sizes.

Click to zoom in

Exterior Doors

The standard size for an exterior door is 80 inches by 36 inches which is 6 ft, 8 inches by 3 ft. 96 inches or 8 ft. is now very common for newer homes and stock exterior doors are also commonly available in 30 and 32-inch widths. Some door manufacturers sell doors in 7ft & 8ft heights and door widths from 24 inches to 42 inches. The height for fiberglass or steel doors are fixed at 6 ft. 8 inches tall and 8 ft. tall. The standard door thickness is 1 ¾ inch.

Click to zoom in

French Doors

The standard size for an exterior door is 80 inches by 36 inches which is 6 ft, 8 inches by 3 ft. 96 inches or 8 ft. is now very common for newer homes and stock exterior doors are also commonly available in 30 and 32-inch widths. Some door manufacturers sell doors in 7ft & 8ft heights and door widths from 24 inches to 42 inches. The height for fiberglass or steel doors are fixed at 6 ft. 8 inches tall and 8 ft. tall. The standard door thickness is 1 ¾ inch.

Sliding Glass Doors

These type of patio doors let a lot of natural light into the house. They are the most common and least expensive type of patio door. This type of patio doors slides in a parallel motion and it makes it easy for homeowners to come in and out of the house. The best place to install sliding doors would be at a patio area or a deck. The standard size for a sliding glass door is 6'8" high x 6' wide. Other popular sizes are 5’0” X 8’0”, 6’0” X 8’0” and 8’0” X 8’0”. Keep in mind, these doors come in various sizes depending of the manufacturer.

Interior Doors

The height for all passage doors must be a minimum of 80 inches and the standard width sizes for interior doors are 24”, 28”, 30”, 32” and 36”. The minimum recommended door width to allow persons with disabilities’ to pass through is 36 inches. Standard thickness for an interior door is 1 3/8, if your door exceeds 36” or is over 90” in height; the recommended thickness for that door would be 1 3/4 inches. The chart below has a list of widths and heights and what those sizes are generally used for. Keep in mind, you can add these door heights to any room in your house.

1'-3"

1'-6"

2'-0"

2'-4"

2'-6"

2'-8"

3'-0"

6/8

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bedrooms

Used for bedrooms

7/0

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bedrooms

Used for bedrooms

8/0

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bi-fold doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bathroom doors

Used for bedrooms

Used for bedrooms

Closet and Utility Doors

Utility and closet doors usually have tighter passages that standard doors. In houses built before 1990’s the doors could be as narrow as 18 inches. Newer comes usually have a width of 30 inches and a standard high of 96” inches.

How to Measure your Door Properly

f you are looking to replace a door you currently have, measure the existing door from top to bottom. Continue by measuring the door from left to right. You also want to measure the thickness of the door. Most doors have a thickness of 1 ¾ inch. Your door shouldn’t be too far form that measurement. It is also important to measure the width of the door jamb and the height and width of the frame. Be sure not to include the trim in your measurement. Finally, you should add 2 inches to the width measurement of the door and 2 inches to the height for the doorway opening. This is called a rough-in measurement. A rough-in measurement applies whether or not you are using a pre-hung door. For example, a 36 x 80-inch door, would be 38 x 82 inches when you include the 2 inches of your rough-in measurement.

How to measure a door for replacement

SLAB SIZE

Slab is the actual door without any frame or hardware. If you are planning to only replace the door and keep the frame as is, then you will need this measurement. The size of the new door should be exactly the same as your existing door (height, width, thickness) or if it is slightly larger, you should make sure that the door is trimmable to the size.

Questions to ask from the supplier & contractor:

How much is allowed to cut this door from height and the width

Does the warranty voids if we cut the door ?

Is there any labor charge to trim the door?

NET FRAME SIZE

Dimensions taken from outside the frame, excluding. This is needed for the time you want to replace the door & frame. Net frame size may vary for each manufacture...Most of the manufacturers will offer to trim the from the height & width, but not more that 2 inches. Thus, the the standard net frame size is slightly smaller than the door, you should ask if they will trim the door for you or not.

Questions to ask from the supplier & contractor:

how much is allowed to cut this door from height and the width

does the warranty voids if we cut the door ?

Is there any labor charge to trim the door?

what is the jamb size?

what type of brickmould do I need?

ROUGH OPENING

Rough opening is the size of the hole that is cut in the wall despite the construction materials whether it is wood, metal, or masonry .

You should know this dimension at the time shopping for the door. The Rough Opening is typically about 1-1/2” wider than the unit size and about a 1” taller. This is necessary for the following reasons:

Each manufacturer have it’s own standards and that might cause the actual doors to be slightly different.

The frame thickness will be added to the door size.

You will need about 1” in total width and height to be able to adjust and shim the door.

The openings are not always square , so it is good to have a little extra gap. This gap will be covered by Brickmould & casing.

Removing interior wood trim — baseboard, chair rail, window and door casing — requires little more than a hammer and pry bar. But to avoid ripping out large sections of drywall facing along with the trim, use a sharp utility knife to score the seam between the molding and the wall. Apply just enough pressure to cut through the dried paint and into the paper face of the drywall. Now when you pry off the trim, it will come away cleanly.

The Rough Opening is typically about 1-1/2” wider than the unit size and about a 1” taller. (double doors extra ½” in width for T- astragal)

Click to zoom in

Measure the width of the opening (stud to stud) in 3 places, the top, middle, and bottom and record the smallest measurement. Measure from the base of the header to the floor on the left and right and record the shortest height measurement.

No Worries, you can calculate the rough opening with a little tolerance . Here is how we can do this:

The goal is to measure the Stud to stud.

Click to zoom in

Unit size: Measure the jamb (hump to hump) (measure the thickest part of the jamb) The width measurement is from the inside of one jamb to the other. Enter the correct measurement in the worksheet on the right.

The height measurement is from the bottom sill to the top rail. Enter the correct measurement in the worksheet on the right. Unit size: Measure from the bottom of the sill to the thickest part of the header